Napkin dispensers have been used in commercial food service establishments, such as fast food restaurants. These establishments offer service at a counter or in a cafeteria environment and typically furnish paper products, such as napkins or paper towels, to their customers for wiping their hands, faces, etc. These paper products are typically furnished to customers in folded napkins, unperforated rolled towels or folded towel in a stack. A newer type of paper product includes perforated sheets that allow ease of delivery of paper to the customer. Paper products are either available in dispensers located throughout the restaurant or presented to the customers at the counter when they receive their food order.
Commercial food service establishments serve a variety of people and groups of the population. Business may depend on various consumer expectations, such as speed of service and general cleanliness of the establishment. Unfortunately, some dispensers may invoke undesirable health and sanitation anxiety for consumers in these establishments. Some dispensers position a sheet of paper which has a surface area that may have been soiled or may have been contacted by a previous customer. In such cases, the customer attempting to retrieve the paper sheet may allow additional sheets to be dispensed and discard the first sheet. Consequently, this process causes a waste of paper and resources, increases operating costs to the establishment, and may reduce business because of lower consumer expectations of cleanliness.
Notwithstanding the sanitation drawbacks of dispensers, paper products supplied in perforated sheets may lack proper perforations or the perforations in the paper may vary so much that a manually applied force to separate the sheets is too high for some individuals. As a result, certain individuals may have difficulty removing paper products from some dispensers. In particular, a segment of the population such as, children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly may have insufficient musculoskeletal strength or control of the hands or fingers to remove paper products from dispensers. Furthermore, these problems are magnified for a segment of the population who may be amputees or disabled that have less than full use or their arms and fingers.
A further problem may occur when perforated paper napkins or towels can not be effectively separated from each other. Paper products in perforated sheets may lack proper perforations or the perforations in the paper may vary so that a manually applied force to separate the sheets is high. This presents undesirable consequences when some dispensers are placed so that they rest freestanding on a support surface, such as a table or shelf or the like. Because of the inability to effectively separate the sheets and the high separation force, there is a danger that the dispenser may be pulled towards the user or off the support surface onto the floor and become damaged or cause injury to the user. As a result, an establishment may not adequately meet the needs of the consuming public.
Typically for restroom environments, dispensers for non-perforated paper may include a lever, crank, or other user-contact mechanism for dispensing a length of paper, and a blade for severing the length of paper from the remaining roll. Unfortunately, manual contact with a dispenser or the like presents health concerns for consumers. Past dispenser configurations, as such shown U.S. Pat. No. 2,215,052 to Price; U.S. Pat. No. 2,202,011 to Krueger; U.S. Pat. No. 3,128,024 to Downham; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,578 to Laguna use manual cranks and require a consumer to position a sheet of paper to undesirable environments. In addition, such designs do not address the health concerns because, in part, a sheet of paper can be soiled as well. Moreover, individuals with insufficient musculoskeletal strength or who may be amputees or disabled would have a difficult time separating the paper from the roll or operate the cranks or levers.
Non-perforated paper has been used in electrical powered dispensers. In one example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,267 issued to Planke illustrates a paper imprinting device which has a bendable deflector and a blade which cuts heat-sensitive paper. After paper is fed from the imprinting device, a user pulls the paper which contacts the bendable deflector. In this construction, the underside of the cover forciably pushes a heatable imprinting member against the heat sensitive paper on an advancing roller. The imprinting device of Planke is problematic for separating perforated paper, in particular napkins and paper towels. Perforated paper can prematurely tear on the imprinting member, while the paper advances against the member. As a result, the premature tearing of the paper can jam the feeding operation of the paper and can improperly print the paper. Furthermore, this jamming problem wastes paper and resources.
In the Planke device, a paper towel or napkin needs be provided with sufficient strength to bend the deflector and reach the blade without premature and/or uneven tearing of the paper. Paper product possessing the requisite strength to be used with a dispenser of this type may be limited in the amount of softness and absorbency which can be provided to the paper towels and napkins. Moreover, the bendable deflector creates undesired resistance on the paper which in turn causes a greater force magnitude a user must manually place on the paper to remove it. Consequently, such a dispenser construction can cause a dispenser to be pulled towards a user and individuals with limited musculoskeletal strength or who may be amputees or disabled would have difficulty.
Some electrical powered dispensers which dispense non-perforated paper reduce manual contact with the housing. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,832 to Niada and U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,291 to Byrd, a light sensitive device is used to detect the presence of a user's hand in front of the dispenser and advance the toweling for a predetermined length of time. The dispensed length of paper is then separated from the continuous web by pulling the paper against a serrated cutting blade. The devices of Niada and Byrd are ill-suited for separating perforated paper, in particular napkins and paper towels. The cutting action still requires the paper to possess a certain minimum strength, and generally produces a rough, unsightly cut. In addition, these designs still present a full sheet of paper to the undesirable environments, thus not effectively alleviating health and sanitation hazards for consumers.